Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Zimbabwe's Chamber of Mines on Monday urged the government to create an investor-friendly, legal and fiscal regime in the country to encourage investment and expansion of current operations and greenfield projects.

Addressing delegates at the recent Chamber of Mines annual general meeting (AGM), Chamber president Jack Murehwa said negotiations with the government over the proposed Mines and Minerals Amendments were still ongoing.

"The chamber wishes to build on the principle of increasing the size of the cake and not concentrating on the size of today's slices," he said.

Mines and Mining Development Ministry in March announced the government's intention to increase the state's shareholding in foreign mines to 50 percent with 25 percent being free-carry.....

This article is from China's People's daily...even in China they now recognize you don't kill the goose that lays golden eggs...

THE once-tight relationship between Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe and China is beginning to fray as a series of unpaid bills for aircraft, engineering work and construction projects around the country begin to mount up.

At least half a dozen Chinese firms have suspended work on unrelated contracts around the country because they have not been paid.

At the same time, Zimbabwe's air ministry has defaulted on a $US12 million ($15.8 million) payment for two MA60 passenger jets it recently ordered from China's state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

A third aircraft, a gift from China, is standing forlornly on the runway, unable to fly because of a lack of spare parts.

"The current economic situation in the country has made it impossible for us to honour our debts," a Zimbabwean government spokesman said.

"The Chinese have been hit the hardest, since they are carrying out a number of projects in Zimbabwe."

China is virtually the only significant economic power that still has close economic and diplomatic ties with Harare....